Pat Shortridge won the Minnesota GOP party chair election on the first ballot. He was up against Terry McCall and Todd McIntyre. He takes over for former chair Tony Sutton who recently resigned.

The Senate will hold a private caucus just after Christmas to elect Sen. Amy Koch's replacement. The majority leader is the state Senate's most powerful figure.

Minnesota's Grand Old Party has taken numerous hits recently as key party members resign and debt issues loom.

One assistant majority leader says if the allegations of an inappropriate relationship are true, it will be difficult for Amy Koch to stay in the Senate. Another says he hopes she does stay. Koch resigned her post as Senate Majority Leader last week amid allegations of a relationship with a Senate staffer.

After more than 11 hours of debate at a hotel in Roseville, Minnesota Republicans chose Sen. David Senjem, of Rochester, to represent them as majority leader in the state senate. Senjem will replace Amy Koch, who resigned earlier this month after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a senate staffer.

A party spokeswoman told the St. Cloud Times that Minnesota's Republican Party will hold its 2012 state convention May 18-19 at the St. Cloud Civic Center. Among other things, GOP activists will likely endorse a challenger to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Amy Koch issued a surprise announcement that she's stepping down as Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate. Koch's letter to fellow Republicans did not specify a reason, but called the past year challenging, exciting, and exhausting.

Republican Tony Sutton's abrupt departure Friday night was announced via a note left on the social media network Twitter. Sutton says the past few months have taken a tremendous toll on him and his family.